It's not every day you see a family of bears playing in a public lake -- unless you're a biologist.

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"At Lake Tahoe, we get bears down at the lake frequently," said Jason Holley, a supervising wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In the video, which was shot last week, the mama bear doesn't seem to mind the paddleboarders and other people nearby.

"Bears will use a lake for water," Holley explained. "They'll use it to cool off. In a drought situation that we're in, some of their natural streams are dried up. So, they'll really rely on the lake more heavily during times of drought."

In this case, the Bear League sent an observer to the lake to make sure people didn't get too close to the bears.

"When you meet a bear like that doing what they have a right to do, then you have to respect that," Bear League Executive Director Ann Bryant said. "And just give them room. Give them space. Don't crowd them. You can take their picture. Take them from a distance.”

Bryant said there are some 250 to 300 wild black bears living in the Lake Tahoe region -- and sometimes, they enter people's homes and garages to look for food.

If that happens, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said don't corner them but give them an easy escape route.

"They'll wander back in the woods," Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Andrew Hughan said. "We're not food, and we're not a threat as long as you stay away.”

Never come between a mother bear and her cubs. Don't get too close.

"Bears will let you know if you're too close," Bryant said. "They'll look at you and give a warning howl to say, ‘You're a little too close and I need you to back away.’"

Remember: Bears are wild animals -- no matter how cute they look.

"That bear clearly has no fear of people," Hughan said. "So do not help wildlife. Do not feed wildlife. Do not take a selfie with the wildlife. It can be incredibly dangerous."

California has an estimated 36,000 wild black bears.

"There's never been a black bear fatality in California so that's the good thing,” Hughan said. “There have been several attacks, but no fatalities in the 150 years of record keeping."

Grizzly bears are a different story though. They are considered to be predators, but they no longer exist in California.